Umpires must step up and make better decisions: Dhoni

Ahmedabad, Nov 3 (ANI): Indian cricket skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni on Wednesday giving a mixed review to the Umpire Decision Reviewal System (UDRS) said the umpires must step up and make better decisions.

Dhoni said UDRS would check major mistakes the umpires have made in the past, but it would also diminish their role on the field.

“Quite a few decisions, you know, it is surprising to see umpire make that mistake. That could have been avoided if UDRS (Umpire Decision Review System) was there, but does that give the umpire the liberty of giving wrong decisions? As professionals, they get paid to be there, which means they really have to step up,” said Dhoni.

The Indian skipper claimed that international ranking does not mean much to the Indian side, and their goal was only to deliver the best.

“I don’t think many players in this side, or the support staff is bothered too much about the rankings. But what we are bothered about is how we do on the field. You know, whether we are prepared well for the game, whether we have planned well for the opposition, and accordingly give hundred percent on the field,” said Dhoni, while addressing a press conference here today.

Dhoni said he hoped that the team players suffered no injuries in the ongoing series, as many more tournaments are lined up for them.

“For me, I think the major concern is the injury concern because we have important series coming up. After this we go to South Africa and then we have the World Cup, which is like a big tournament meant for us. You see, the last few series that we have played, more often then not, we have missed key players specially the bowlers,” he added.

The team is scheduled to play three Test matches series against New Zealand beginning on November 4 at Motera, near Ahmedabad.

The second Test match will be played from November 12 to 16 in Hyderabad, followed by the final match in Nagpur from November 20.

The One Day International (ODI) series kicks off on November 28 with the first match to be played at Guwahati. (ANI)